It was probably not one of her smarter decisions, but she was starving, and he was paying, and what could one outrageously expensive meal hurt?
She, of course, would still be considered a girl in some places, barely a woman in others, and just shy of legal pretty much everywhere else. But when you dared to walk around with skin that pale and a scowl that big, most people just got out of the way and assumed you knew what you were doing. She had been pleasantly surprised to learn that this also applied to police, and more often than she would've expected.
But when this odd little man had bumped into her in a dark alley, he had not seen her (true) age, her pale skin, or her baggy clothes. What he had seen, she still wasn't sure, but he was apparently inclined to treat it to a nice dinner. If he was expecting sex, she had a feeling they would both be sorely disappointed, but for entirely different reasons.
Really, she had only gone with him because he was blue. Literally. Even when he'd flashed her that pitiful excuse for a manic grin, she still couldn't get the image of a slightly deranged Smurf named Screwloose out of her head. He could still turn out to be a jerk, but for the moment, at least, he had proven to be a slightly amusing one.
Also, he was paying, she reminded herself again, shoveling yet another spoonful of rice into her mouth. She flicked her gaze up at him momentarily, feigning interest, and then focused once more on the rice as he continued to rant about this incredible job offer of his. He'd said everything she needed to hear by that point, and now she was mostly humoring him and tuning him out at the same time. Assuming his mouth ever closed for more than three seconds, she was thinking of telling him yes.
But it wasn't as if she had a choice. She'd been wandering the streets for a whole week now, hitching rides when she could, and then simply taking them by force when she got hungry, dirty, and more hungry. Despite that, she didn't once regret leaving her brothers. She was amazed that she'd managed to stay as long as she had without clawing each of their eyes out.
If Blue Guy was serious about this job, though, maybe she could even get paid to get rid of them. It wasn't as if she couldn't, after all. The fools would welcome her back with open arms (except Mego, anyway), even after she'd kicked Hego square in the gut on her way out. She was almost sure he'd felt it, too.
Her spoon struck an empty bowl, and she realized that was at least six she'd put away now. She was no longer hungry, but her stomach, fearing it might have to go another few days without food, gurgled angrily at her and insisted that she ask for more. But she chose to ignore it, for now. She grabbed a napkin, scribbled a nice, round figure on it, and stuck a dollar sign in front before shoving it in Blue Guy's face in mid-rant.
“This is how much it'll cost you to keep me for a year,” she explained. “It's extra if you expect me to stay anywhere without mattresses, running water, cable TV, and food.”
Blue Guy frowned, but not furiously so. “You drive a hard bargain, my dear. But I estimate that you are worth such a high price. Tell me, do you accept…cash?” He made as if to wipe his mouth, but did it with nearly ten thousand in cash.
She grinned at him. “I can see we're going to get along fine. Two things, though. You ever heard of Team Go?”
He blinked. “Who?”
“Never mind. Second, you need a new name.”
“What?” he demanded. “You don't even know my old one…I mean, my current one!”
She smiled patiently. “Okay, hotshot. What is it?”
“Dr. Drew Lipsky,” he said proudly.
Her smiled didn’t fade in the slightest. “Yeah, we're not using that. Try again.”
He glared at her. “Now, see here! YOU work for ME! I give the orders, and you follow them! There won't be anymore of this insubordination! I won't stand for it!”
“Good thing you're sitting, then. Look, I think I know a little more about being bad than you do.”
“And what makes you say that?”
“Because when you found me, you offered to buy me dinner. A bad guy would've beaten me within an inch of my life, and then told me I was his slave. But from what I've seen, you're paying me to do that for you.”
His blue skin paled considerably.
“Don't worry, I'm not gonna hit you…now. You are paying me, after all, and I haven't been around you long enough to know where you keep your bank books.”
“HA! They're all up here!” he chuckled, tapping his forehead.
“Then I'll have them by tomorrow morning,” she predicted boldly. “Here's how it's going to work. I can follow orders. But you tell me something I don't like, I'll make a suggestion. You don't listen, I'll suggest a little more strongly. You still don't listen, I TELL you what we're doing next. Got it?”
“I don't think I like where this is going,” Lipsky muttered.
She rolled her eyes. “You said you needed a bodyguard. But you don't exactly have someone to protect you from me, do you? So I think I'm showing a whole lot of restraint by not beating your brains in and running off with your money. You keep that in mind the next time you think about doing something stupid.” She paused and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Great. Hope you're happy. Now I have a headache.”
Lipsky casually moved his hand along his leg, reaching for the blaster he always kept concealed there. Only instead of cool, hard metal, his hand found another hand already there.
“In case you were wondering,” she growled in his ear, yanking his head back by his ponytail, “I am NOT coming onto you.”
“Now now, there's no need to be hasty, my dear,” Lipsky chuckled nervously.
“Exactly what I was going to tell you, ‘boss’. So why don't you take care of the check while I go powder my nose?”
“I think…that would be best.”
“I knew you would.” She released him and stormed off, wondering yet again just why she was putting up with this.
Drew Lipsky (or Dr. Drakken, as he insisted on later being called) turned out to be a rather wise choice, as far as business associates went. He was highly imaginative, to the point where most police forces just weren't prepared to deal with his nefariously twisted plans. She couldn't really blame them, though; she worked for the man, and half the time she was surprised (but not impressed) by the things he came up with.
And it wasn't just that he was a regular source of amusement for her, but that his plans actually worked most of the time. In the few instances they didn't, the mistakes were immediately singled out and either fixed or discarded entirely. It was an efficient way to run a business (even an evil one), as was made obvious by the regular increases in pay she was getting. When Drakken was in a really good mood, he gave her raises without thinking (not that she ever complained). Soon her salary had nearly tripled, and she was hardly even doing anything other than hacking an alarm system here, busting up a few rent-a-cops there. The fact that she didn't deserve the raises (or at least hadn't earned them) crossed her mind a few times, but apparently not Drakken's.
Things were going so…well. Surprisingly so. She had even stopped thinking of this as a temporary job, or a stepping stone to some other opportunity. More than once, she had assured herself that she could continue to work with Drakken years down the road. Sure, he was certifiably nuts, and his henchmen could've stood some improvement, but that was why he needed her so badly in the first place.
Maybe that was why things eventually went so very wrong.
The factory robbery was going exactly as planned. The henchmen were busy loading the components Drakken needed for a charged particle cannon he was building, while Shego was supervising and keeping an eye out for any unwelcome interruptions…not that she expected any.
So when she first spotted the huge pink rat scurrying toward her, Shego's first instinct was to turn it into a pink smear on the floor. One of the henchmen might see it and get distracted at the very least. Better to get it out of the way right then.
She was not expecting the rat to stop, raise up on its hind legs, and wave at her with its forepaws, squeaking something that sounded disturbingly like, “Hi!”
Before she could question what she was seeing, a voice she hadn't heard in what seemed like ages spoke into her mind.
'Can you say distraction?'
Instantly, Shego was a frustrated, frightened girl of ten again, surrounded by a quartet of useless boys, and missing that rarely heard, but oh so integral peaceful half that had more than once kept her from throttling them all as they slept.
Predictably, she had mixed feelings when said half drove its feet into the back of her head, sending her tumbling into a shipping crate.
“I don't know who you are,” said the voice as Shego quickly made it to her feet, “but the crime spree ends here.”
'It can't be her,' Shego's mind insisted, dreading what she would see if she turned around. 'It just can't be. She's gone. She's DEAD!'
'No, you lost her,' her mind answered itself. 'She's alive.'
'But she can't be! She was mine! She still IS!'
'Seems like she's her own person now. Take a look.'
Shego finally worked up enough nerve to spin around. She locked gazes with a set of familiar green eyes, and in that instant, she knew for sure that this was what she'd missed, staring at her reflection in the hospital so many years ago.
“You…you're mine,” Shego whispered in a quivering voice.
The teenage girl blinked, clearly not expecting that. But she recovered quickly, just as Shego had. “Hmmph. You could at least buy me dinner first.” Her body tensed up, falling naturally into a martial arts stance.
Even as her lips twisted into a snarl, Shego's mind was screaming at her.
'Wait! I can't fight her! I can't hurt her! She's mine! She's ME!'
Her mind, however, had not gone all these years at half efficiency, though. Since the day that Shego had become one mental voice lighter, she had subconsciously been compensating for it, in order to keep several steps ahead of that inevitable nervous breakdown. The result was that instead of having one angry voice and one peaceful voice, she now listened to one angry voice and one voice that was marginally slower to anger. The trouble was, they both sounded like her, and she’d gotten so used to listening to them that being angry was nearly a hobby for her. So it didn’t surprise her at all when that angry voice kicked in with its own solution.
'There's no other way! Knock her out now, sort out the pieces later!'
A primal yell flew from Shego's mouth as she launched herself at the girl, half of her wanting to knock her foe into next week, and the other half wanting lock her in a smothering embrace until they were one again. The former half won out in the end, smashing through the girl's defenses and landing a hard straight arm punch to the cheek that sent her crashing to the ground.
Shego was panting as she closed in again, her eyes blazing with fury and need. “You won't get away,” she swore, flexing her fingers anxiously. “I won't let you. I can't!”
The girl scrambled backwards as best she could, her eyes wide with shock and disbelief, but not fear. Clearly, she was not used to being bested so easily.
Clearly, she had never run into her other half, either.
“This ends now.” Shego reached down and grabbed the girl's black shirt, hauling her up by the collar. She hesitated only for an instant when those green eyes came so close to her own, but it was enough.
A pink blur shot out of the girl's hair and latched painfully onto Shego's nose.
Shego screamed in outrage as she tore that same pink rat off and threw it as hard as she could.
The girl gasped. “Rufus!” She executed a spectacular diving catch, clapping the rat in her gloved hands as she landed hard on the floor, the breath rushing out of her.
Shego was tempted to rush forward and kick the rat to bits, but the tiny earpiece she was wearing buzzed.
“Shego! We're done here,” Drakken snapped. “Wrap up whatever you're doing!”
She only barely suppressed another snarl as the girl winced, her hand flying to her now wounded side. The rat chittered with concern, running down her extended arm to nuzzle against her cheek. Both of them froze as Shego took a step forward.
It would only take a second, Shego reasoned, ignoring the throbbing pain in her nose, as well as the blood dripping from it. She could stomp out the rat, grab the girl, and vanish into the night with ease. All of her questions would be answered, and maybe she could finally stop wondering what it would be like to be a complete, whole person again.
The rat planted itself directly in front of the girl, growling as menacingly as it could. It would've been funny, if not for the panicked look in the girl's eyes.
'She's afraid,' Shego realized with a start. 'Afraid of what I'll do. She's afraid of me. She was never afraid of me before.'
'Things are different now. She's been away too long. Just grab her and go!'
'No. Not like this. We'll never be one if I do that. She'll never trust me enough.'
'Forget trust! She belongs to you! WITH you! GRAB HER!'
’…I can't.'
“Shego!” Drakken shouted in her ear, but not from the earpiece. He was standing right next to her now. “What is the meaning of-” He trailed off upon spotting the girl. “So this is what kept you. Well, that's easily taken care of.”
Shego's eyes widened as Drakken reached into his dark blue suit. She had seen him do everything from turn guards into brainless buffoons to leaving police officers trembling from hallucinations. The thought of him doing anything to harm the girl was too much to even consider.
Her hand shot out, grabbing Drakken's arm. “No! Cops!”
Drakken reacted exactly as she’d expected. “Until we meet again, little girl,” he sneered, turning on his heel. “Shego! Come!”
Still Shego hesitated. She bent down, batting the rat aside and seizing a handful of the girl's red hair. “This isn't over until you're mine again,” she whispered. “No matter how fast you run, where you hide, or how hard you fight, I'll find you. It's fate, and it's bigger than the both of us…Kimmie.”
As she walked away, Shego never questioned if that was the girl's name or not. Even if the girl answered to something else, it wouldn't have mattered. This was how Shego had always identified her missing half, even as a child. Sometimes, in her fantasies, Kimmie was the little sister that looked up to her in their perfect family, or she was what Shego wanted to be reborn as, but always, she was Kimmie in the end.
How she'd gotten her own body was something to be cleared up later. But there was little doubt in Shego's mind that Kimmie would go home to a perfect family that understood her completely. And it only made her desire to possess Kimmie, mind, body, and soul, all the stronger.
Several minutes passed before the girl rolled to a sitting position, wincing as her ribs ached in protest. She carefully retrieved a small blue device from her pocket, trying to keep the pain out of her voice as she spoke into it. “Wade? Gonna need a pickup.” As an afterthought, she added, “Preferably something that won’t jostle me too much. And remind me that the next time Ron calls in sick, to just take a day off?”
“Will do, Kim. Everything okay?”
Kim sighed. “I let the bad guys got away, I feel like a horse kicked my ribs in, and I nearly let Rufus get squashed.” She forced a smile as Rufus displayed his forgiveness with a whiskery kiss on her cheek, and she stroked the naked mole rat’s back affectionately. “Let’s just keep that last bit between us, okay?”
“Gotcha. I take it Green Girl was tougher than we expected?”
Suppressing a shudder at the memory of the woman’s blazing green eyes, Kim closed her eyes for a second. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Endnotes: If you wondered, the title comes from Greek mythology. Hephaestus is god of fire, and was known for his amazing skill as a blacksmith. He was born with deformed legs, but despite this, he is credited with fashioning the tools of the gods and demigods. In a way, he reminds me of both Shego and Kim in this story: persevering despite their obvious (or not so obvious) handicap of being literally half a person.